Chennai are currently number two on the points table with their 13 points which include 6 wins from 10 matches. Bangalore are at number 6 with 10 points and looking desperately for a win that could catapult them into the top four teams that will make it to the semi finals.

Chennai have a lot going for them and the cricket news for the players has been generally good. Most batsmen are in fine form and performing accordingly. The team gets a huge boost at the top with Matthew Hayden giving the batting a dream start every time. It is a telling statistic that the highest scorers so far in the IPL are both from the Chennai team: Hayden has made the most runs and Suresh Raina in second in that list. Also very importantly skipper M S Dhoni is leading by example.

Chennai bowlers too have acquitted themselves commendably, with Lakshmipathy Balaji being among the wickets, Sudeep Tyagi has done well and Shadab Jakati is been a revelation. There is also the wily warhorse Muttiah Muralitharan to call upon and his tricks to perform.

 By contrast, the Bangalore side looks nowhere near as balanced or powerful. There has been a lot of chopping and changing to find the right batting combinations for batsmen such as Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa, not being able to perform to potential. Even Rahul Dravid, after making a good start in the tournament has looked somewhat distracted.

One bright spot in the team for skipper Anil Kumble would be Ross Taylor who made a spectacular return to form against KKR when he was instrumental in his team’s win and won himself the man of the match award as well.

Chennai are aware, as coach Stephen Fleming says in his column, that though they have defeated Bangalore before, they are not to be taken lightly. Chennai is aware that this Bangalore team is a formidable one and if the players hit the sort of form that they are capable of, they will be a tough unit to beat.

The Chennai team has just come back after a few days off for some R & R, a trip to Inkwe Valley Game Lodge in Limpopo would have relax the players after a hectic week and would hopefully keep everybody fresh for some more tough cricket coming their way; four games in seven days.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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